Miso Eggplant & Gluten-Free Noodle Soup

I’ve been meaning to experiment with different types of soups for a while but have always ended up sticking to what I know. You know, your typical pumpkin soup, minestrone or even just a quick miso soup.

I’ve always been a fan of Japanese food, and after being inspired by some soups I saw online, I felt like experimenting with some basic, yet common Japanese ingredients to see what kind of flavours I would get.

Quick note – Michael isn’t the biggest fan of soup (weird, I know) so he normally doesn’t get excited when I tell him that we’re having soup for dinner. I guess, for this reason I don’t really make soup too often as I don’t want to risk making something that he doesn’t like.

But this one afternoon, I thought to myself, I think I might have a winner here with these ingredients. I made it, he tried it and he loved it! On average, I have been making this soup at least once a week since I first created it a couple of months ago. It’s so easy, pretty quick, and has loads of flavour.

I love using toasted sesame oil in my cooking as it adds so much depth and flavour to my meals. It instantly takes me back to a gourmet Japanese restaurant. When buying the sesame oil, try and find a cold pressed and organic brand for best results, I use Carwari at home. For the miso, you can find miso in different forms from powder to paste and brown rice, barley or soy. The darker the paste, the healthier it is. I always try and get the brown rice one and make sure it is organic. If you know me, everything I buy is organic especially the top GMO foods that you can find the list in our One Week of Meals Cookbook.

In a frying pan, heat 2 tbsp of the sesame oil on a medium heat for around 30 seconds to a minute. Add the eggplant and make sure that all the pieces are touching the pan. Give it a stir every 30 seconds and cook until it is slightly browned and soft.

Add the tamari sauce and take off heat. Put to the side until you need to add to the soup.

In a medium sized saucepan, add the other 2 tbsp of sesame oil and warm on medium heat. Add the mushrooms and ginger and stir till they brown slightly.

Add the boiled water and miso paste. Making sure that the miso paste is dissolved properly. I find it easiest to dissolve it between two tablespoons while mixing it around in the water. Stir for about 30 seconds to combine it all well.

Add in the garlic and carrot and let it simmer for a couple of minutes then toss in the cooked eggplant and all the juices from the pan.

Let this cook for about 3-4 minutes and then add the vermicelli noodles. They normally take about 3 minutes to cook.

Add in the spinach and coriander and give it a good stir.

Take off heat and sprinkle some toasted sesame seeds on top. You may also like to add some pepper here if you want, for a bit of heat add even more.

Feel free to substitute the carrot for small cubes of pumpkin or leave it out altogether. You can pretty much use any vegetable in this soup. Capsicum, shallots and other mushrooms would also work really well. If you want some more protein, you can add some tofu.

What did you think of this recipe? Did you enjoy the flavour combination and the depth of flavours that came through? Would you like to see more recipes like this one? Let me know in the comments below.